SafeDeposits Scotland Blog

Ask SafeDeposits: How do I repay my tenant's deposit from the tenancy deposit scheme?

I've protected my tenant's deposit with a tenancy deposit scheme, but how do I get it back?

When the tenancy comes to an end, you can repay the deposit by following these easy repayment steps:

Log in to your SafeDeposits user account;

Search for the relevant tenancy address and select the “View/Edit” option;

This will open the deposit summary page for the tenancy, including the “Proposal for Deposit Repayment” option at the bottom of the page;

After clicking this option, you can complete the short form to confirm how the deposit should be repaid (e.g. if the full amount should be repaid to the tenant, or if any should be paid to you for rent arrears, cleaning, damage, etc.).

We'll send a copy of your repayment request to your tenant to ask if they agree or disagree with the breakdown you've entered.

If the tenant agrees, we'll repay the deposit within five working days.

How will you contact my tenant?

We'll send your repayment request by email, if you've provided an email address for your tenant. This should help make the repayment quicker and easier for everyone.

If you haven't provided an email address for your tenant, we'll contact them by text or telephone to ask them directly for their email or forwarding address.

Do I need to enter my tenant's bank details?

No, when we contact them to ask if they agree or disagree with your repayment request, we'll ask them for their bank details directly.

What happens if the tenant disagrees with my repayment request?

If you want to keep some or all of the deposit for reasons which the tenant disagrees with, they can refer the repayment to our adjudication service. This means we'll ask you and your tenant for further information about the tenancy. An impartial person will decide what repayment is fair based on that information.

You can find out more about our adjudication service, including the type of information we look for, in our adjudication guidance documents.

What happens if the tenant doesn't respond to my repayment request?

After you enter your repayment request, your tenant has 30 working days to agree or disagree with the breakdown you have entered. If your tenant fails to respond to your request within 30 working days, we'll pay you any money from the deposit which you have requested. We'll continue to hold the money due to the tenant until they contact us to claim it back.

Can the tenant claim the deposit back first?

Yes, the tenant can log in and enter a repayment request first. In the same way as before, we'll send you a copy of their repayment request to ask if you agree or disagree with the breakdown they've entered.